


this magic can't die (so dance your final dance)

by crookedemrys



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Arthur is Ron, Arthur is jealous, Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Emotional Constipation, Gwaine is Krum, Gwen is awesome, M/M, Merlin is Hermione, Oblivious Arthur, Oblivious Merlin, Pining Arthur, Pining Idiots, Pining Merlin, Ron/Hermione but Merlin-ized, THAT SCENE IN GOBLET OF FIRE, WHERE HERMIONE WALKS IN AND SLAYS, oh arthur, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedemrys/pseuds/crookedemrys
Summary: Yule Ball AU: Gwen is the Chosen One, Merlin is an awesome nerd, and Arthur is definitely NOT jealous, okay?(the entire yule ball movie sequence-- now with even more emotional constipation!)(I was watching GOF on HBO, and I started daydreaming. Thus, fic.)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sevenlittlenumbers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenlittlenumbers/gifts).



> when will the plot bunnies let me live? i just wanted to watch harry potter in peace.  
> (this one's for my loves sara and jazzy)

Gwen was finishing her Potions essay, when someone plunked down next to her on the bench. She didn't even have to look up to know it was Arthur. The grumpy noise that she heard after the person had settled, confirmed it. Suddenly, Arthur's finger poked her in the cheek. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Pendragon- why can't you get my attention like a normal human being?"

"Because it's less fun?" Arthur offered, a guileless smle on his face. "Besdes, you don't mind.'

"Actually-" The blond boy pouted at her. Honestly. That face belonged on a golden retriever puppy, not a 15 year old boy.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "How goes your quest to find a date?"

"Ah, not well. But it's fine," He shrugged. I'm not the only one who hasn't got a date, I mean there's Leon."

"Hate to break it to you, but Leon asked me out." 

"Seriously?" Arthur gaped. "No, / _seriously/_?!"

"He's nice, alright?" Gwen defended. "I like him well enough." Arthur nodded He did like Leon a lot, after all, he played Quidditch with him. He was a good guy.

 "Oh god, I'm going to die alone." Gwen looked at Arthur, disbelieving. "I'm going to get a million cats and become the wizarding world's first ever old cat man."

"No, that's Kilgharrah."

"Is / _that_ / meant to make me feel better?"

"You can be old cat men together?" Gwen offered.

"I just want a date." Arthur moaned dramatically, thunking his head down on his Potions textbook. Gwen let out a snort, sarcastically petting the top of his head. "Seriously. I'm hopeless. / _I am going to die alone/_." He emphasized.

Arthur Pendragon, truly was, his own type of dramatic.

"Why's Arthur hitting his head on his Potions book? Is Professor Gaius' assignment that hard?" A voice interrupted. Suddenly, Merlin slid into the bench, across from them. He looked completely out of place in the sea of black and gold, his own robes being green and silver. "Arthur's having a crisis." Gwen informed him in a mock whisper, jerking a thumb at the Hufflepuff still facedown on his textbook. "He's realized he's a prat, has he?" Merlin sniped, kicking at Arthur's foot

Suddenly, Arthur'shead lifted up, and he grinned a bright smile. "Merlin! /You/'re not going to the Ball-- be my wingman, and help me get a date?" He clasped his hands together. "Pretty please?"

Merlin spluttered. "What makes you think I'm not going to the Ball?" He asked, flushing an angry red.

 _Uh-oh,_ Gwen thought.  _Here it comes._

"Because you're a hermit who takes Advanced classes, and never goes out to Hogsmeade with us. Oh, and because you don't have a date." he added, carelessly.

Gwen winced when she saw Merlin's thunderous expression.

"For / _your_ / information, it's called being a / _good_ / student," The other boy hissed, standing up suddenly. Merlin's ears and cheeks were blotchy red with fury. He angrily started to walk away, before he suddenly whirled around again. Merlin jutted his chin up. "Oh, and the date thing? You're wrong. Just so you know... someone's already asked me." He emphasized his last words, something challenging in his expression.

"And I said  _/yes/."_ With that, Merlin stormed out of the Great Hall.

Arthur stared open-mouthed at the door.

 

\- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -

 

"Poor Merlin, " Arthur commented, absentmindedly. He fiddled with his cufflinks, adopting a bored looking expression. Elena, Arthur's date- a lovely Gryffindor girl who excelled at horseback riding, was chattng with Leon happily, quite content to leave the two of them to their conversation.

"What d'you mean?" Gwen scrunched up her nose.

"C'mon, " Arthur scoffed. "He's probably sitting in his room, nose in his Divination texts right now. Possibly, with chocolate."

She glared at him. "Just because you're jealous, doesn't give you a right to be mean."

"I-- I am / _not_ / jealous!" Arthur squawked. 

"Sure." Gwen sighed, picking at her nails. She hated manicures, honestly. They were just a pain in the butt to remove.

"Anyway, he was bluffing, there's no way /Mer/lin has a da--" Arthur trailed off, as he stared at something over her shoulder, eyes widening. His expression, was comical. Gwen was half-expecting him to drool.

"/Damn/." Elena breathed out. "He's  _hot."_ All around her, other Hogwarts students were gaping as well, murmurs of  _"Holy crap, who is /that/?" , "That's Merlin Emrys, I think." "There's /no/ way that's Merlin._  and, _"Merlin?" Isn't he that skinny Slytherin nerd?"_

Gwen spun around suddenly when she heard her friend's name.

Standing at the foot of the grand staircase, was, indeed, Merlin. But now, Gwen could see what they were gossiping about. 

Merlin was dressed in sleek dress robes, dark blue and with a high collar, and lined with silver.  The color brought out the blueness of Merlin's eyes. The collar emphasized the long--  _long,_ line of Merlin's neck, and the robes were cut in such a way that they emphasized Merlin's wiry, lean body. His normally messy, dark hair was mussed up in such a way that looked deliberate, and emphasized Merlin's cheekbones. (Cheekbones, that personally, Gwen had always jealous been of.) 

It was a far cry from Merlin's jumpers, which he drowned himself in. No, tonight, Merlin was  _glowing,_ practically ethereal.

He gave Gwen a shy smile, wiggling his eyebrows at her a little. He blushed a little, when he noticed half the crowd gathered still staring at him, frozen in shock. Gwen grinned back, brightly.  _You look nice,_ she mouthed. Merlin's face lit up even more, and he whispered a "thank you."

 A hand was offered to Merlin.

Said hand belonged to a boy named Gwaine. / _Gwaine_ /.

(as in, Gwaine Greene of _Escetir Academy_. _Quidditch player_ , Gwaine Greene. Gwaine Greene, _Triwizard Champion_.)

/ _Damn/. No one saw that coming._

Merlin took Gwaine's hand with a smile, looking flustered. Gwaine's other arm slid around Merlin's waist easily. He lifted the hand holding Merlin's to his lips, murmuring something Gwen could not hear, but made Merlin blush, and roll his eyes fondly. Gwaine led Merlin inside, leaving (almost) the entire student body gaping at them.

Arthur was practically seething.  _Honestly._

"Well," Leon coughed. "I did / _not/_ see that coming."

An agreeing murmur rose from the rest of the students, still gathered outside.

 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Elena had taken one look at Arthur's face, and sighed. "You're not going to dance, are you?" she asked, kindly.

"...No," Arthur replied, almost sheepishly. "Sorry, El- I know this wasn't the Ball you expected."

"It's alright, love. I get it." She said, smiling softly. "I don't mind."

"You sure?" Arthur asked her, again.

"Yes," Elena stressed, ruffing Arthur's hair. "But if you don't mind, I'm going to go try to woo Mithian into one dance." with that, she left. Arthur let out a guffaw, loud and brash.

Gwen collapsed into the chair next to him. "God, these things are brutal.", she moaned, yanking off her shoes.

"I think I'm done. " She muttered, casting her gaze over to him. "Where's your date, Pendragon?"

"Over there," Arthur waved in Elena and Mithian's direction. "Wooing a Ravenclaw girl." Gwen snorted. "Mithian's going to love that. So you're alone?"

"Yep."

"And not dancing?"

"Yep."

'God, you're hopeless."

"Yep." Arthur made a face. "Totally."

All of a sudden, Merlin and Gwaine appeared in front of them.  "I'll get us drinks?' She heard Gwaine offer. Merlin accepted, collapsing in the chair, grinning giddily.

"This is all brilliant isn't it?" He asked them, eyes bright with excitement. "This is fun. Gwaine's great."

Arthur scowled. "He's not /that/ great." He said, lamely.

Merlin gaped at him. "You're the one who wanted his autograph a few days ago!" he said, clearly frustrated with Arthur's attitude. Arthur shrugged a shoulder, his smirk arrogant and patronizing. "Yeah, well."

Merlin was practically radiating annoyance. He shook his head. "Fuck you, Arthur. Just.." He turned away from them, towards Gwaine, who handed him a drink. He downed it in one. Gwen was concerned. Gwaine looked impressed.

"Let's dance." He told Gwaine, and Gwaine grinned a roguish grin, wrapping himself around the other boy. 

If Arthur looked angry before, that was nothing compared to the emotions Gwen saw flitting across his face. Rage, jealousy,  and sadness warred across his features.

_Hopeless, the both of them. Absolutely hopeless._

"You know," she sighed. "When I said do something? This isn't what I meant."

 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

 

"All I'm saying," Arthur sniffed, crossing his arms. "Gwaine sleeps around a lot. There's nothing that makes you different from the other guys he's dated." 

Arthur was such a kind person _now_ , sometimes one forgot how utterly, utterly cruel he used to be, especially since he grew up under the infamous Uther Pendragon. And he knew, he knew how to get to Merlin. How to get under his skin, and hit him where it hurt

"What?" Merlin spluttered, before stepping forward, his face flushed with anger. "Is that what you think?!"

"Yeah, that's what I think." He said, acidly.

"Well, then you know the solution then, don't you?" Merlin answered quietly, wretchedly. He stepped closer, eyes challenging. "Next time, just-- just pluck up the courage and ask me out before Gwaine, and--" he paused, swallowing. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. "And not as a fucking last resort, or a second choice, Arthur. I won't be /ANYONE/'s second choice, Arthur. Not even  _/yours/_ _. "_

Merlin bit his lip, looking up at Arthur one last time. "I'm done here."

"Merlin," Arthur said quietly, stepping forward. The other boy moved out of his reach.

"Goodbye, Arthur," Merlin said pointedly, turning around. "Figure things out, then we'll talk." He left, his shoulders drooped, and Arthur could see him tugging at his tie with his fingers. 

Gwen found him 10 minutes later, slumped on the stairs, head in his hands.

"Well," Gwen said, crossing her arms. "That obviously didn't go well." She sighed. The look Arthur shot her, sad and resigned, made her heart ache for her friends. 

 

 What a night.

 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

 

The next morning, almost the entire fourth year student body of Hogwarts was extremely hungover. As a result, the house-elves had a magical fry-up, which had everyone alternating between simultaneously groaning, clutching their stomachs in an attempt to not throw up, and gorging themselves on the greasy food.

Also, Gwen would like to point out that Merlin and Arthur were very pointedly not talking to each other.

Despite the fact that they were sitting at the  _exact_ same table, making NO attempt to stay away from each other, whatsoever. 

They also kept shooting each other pining looks when the thought the other wasn't looking. (Which, okay- was normal for the both of them, Gwen admitted to herself.)

_God, they were such boys sometimes._

 Eventually the silence got too much, and Gwen couldn't take it anymore. 

"Oh for the love of--," she slammed her hand on table in front of her, startling both boys and making them wince. "You are such idiots sometimes, I don't even /know/ why I'm friends with either of you," she growled out, placing her hands on her hips, having got their attention.

"Gwen," Merlin protested weakly, hands fluttering in an attempt to placate her. "Maybe we should have this discussion somewhere-- um, not here?"

"No!" Gwen threw her hands up, so very frustrated with the both of them dancing around each other, pretending not to care about the other, when really, it was the exact opposite. "We're discussing this _now."_

 _"_ You, " she hissed, pointing at Merlin, who looked back at her with widened eyes. "Have been pining for Arthur since Second Year-"

"I have no-"

"Shut. It." She whirled around, facing Arthur, who looked both concerned, and frightened at her current expression.

"And /you/, have been pulling Merlin's  _metaphorical_ pigtails since you met him," she continued. "And of you had just gotten the  _balls_ to ask him out, none of this would be happening!"

Arthur made a squeaky noise, barely noticeable. Merlin turned an even brighter red.

"No, for god's sake-- do us all a bloody favor, and sodding /kiss/ already, you idiots." She finished, glaring at the both of them. Arthur's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. Merlin looked like he wanted to spontaneously combust. 

"I--" Arthur started, his voice scratchy, and cheeks flushed. "I don't--"

Merlin coughed. "That's not-"

"Sure." Gwen rolled her eyes again, before rolling her sleeves up, and getting up to get some food. "Whatever."

She left them both there, staring wordlessly at each other.

 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Well, " Arthur tried again, still avoiding Merlin's gaze. "That was..."

"Awkward?" Merlin supplied, giving him a shy little smile.

"Yeah!" Arthur nodded, jerkily, "I mean, obviously, you don't..." he pauses,

"Well, um--"

"Yeah, thought so." He said quietly, looking down at his lap. "After all, you've got... y'know, Gwaine... and stuff." Arthur felt like his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. Suddenly, Merlin snorted loudly, and started laughing.

"What?" Arthur demanded, sulkily. "What's so funny?"

"/ _Gwaine_ /," Merlin emphasized, smiling a little. "Is just a friend. My father and his father know each other, and they help each other train dragons."

"But-" Arthur gaped. "He asked you out!"

"Well, yeah..."

"And you said yes." He says, quieter.

"We're just friends," The other boy says, quietly. "Just friends, Arthur." A warm hand, tentatively brushes the other boy's. Arthur looks down at it.

"Oh." Is all he can say. He tries not to give into the hope that's currently beating its wings in his chest.

"Don't laugh at me, but--" Merlin's ears burn bright red, and he looks back up at Arthur, and says, softly. "It's only ever been you."

There was a strange stillness in the moment. Arthur felt dizzy, and giddy at once. _Yes._

 _"_ Arthur?" Merlin asked again, looking worried. "Arthur? Look, I'm sorry--"

"Gods,  shut up, Merlin." Arthur laughed, before leaning in and kissing him. Merlin's shoulders stiffened slightly, and there was a slight hitch in his breath. Arthur's arms come up to wrap around Merlin's waist, pulling him closer. A loud wolf-whistle, makes them break apart; both flushed, and bright-eyed. Merlin's grinning his head off, smile stupidly wide. Arthur's pretty sure that he looks the same. 

Both boys crane their heads to look for the sound of the whistle, and find Gwen.

"Well," she says, smugly, walking over, with two plates of honeycomb cake, and plonking them down on the table. "Glad you took my advice."

  _(fin.)_

 

 


End file.
